February 17, 2013 dVerse

The prompt or question for the day was, why do you write?  Brian is host today, and he has asked, why do you write.  I am a visual artist, but I often write about what I am doing, in hopes I can be clear about what I am doing, and can then judge what I am doing.

One Day in the Life… (Day/Night)  22″x22″ each  gouache on w/c paper

 

 

A Day in the Life…
To try to put into words
What we do as visual artists
Is a difficult task
Perhaps we are trying to answer
The whisper
The loud voice of thunder
The cool movement of wind
or…
To determine the character of the day

In this series
A Day in The Life…
Each day I study
The New Mexico landscape
I ask myself what is the
Quality of the light
The color of the sky and the land
What is the difference

How does this day
Differ from the day before
Considering one day at a time
One hour at a time
One moment
Which becomes the next

I make notes in my journal
Later …
Select an entry
Try to interpret
What I have written
Into a visual statement
Making the invisible
Visible

Many thoughts
Feelings and
Sights
Are present to each of us
In the space of 24 hours

I try to make visible
One moment of the day
Which will stand for the
Character of the total day
Time passes
Visibly before my eyes
I work intently
Painstakingly
Like the spider spinning it’s web

The finished work unknown until complete
I work to create the visible statement
Indefinable in words
Matching it to the
Interior landscape
That is known only to me
To my artist self
Expressing living thoughts
Of varied experiences
Memories
My own changing
Points of view
My goadl is to tell the story of a man
Based on one moment of his life

February 17, 2013 Sunday Whirl #96

under, naked, scurries, birth, imaginary, hiding,
door, faces, root, candlelight, lack, held
A New Day
Under a starless sky
The night scurries naked
Back to his hiding place
The sun prepares
For the birth
Of a new day
Rising above Taos Mountain
Lighting the valley
And the whole world

The artist opens
The door of the
Little imaginary cage
Of ideas
Selects one
That will take root
And grow

As night returns
She works by candlelight
Held with one hand
At work with the other
She faces new challenges
With lack of fear
Of night
Or her own
Darkest doubt

February 16, 2013 dVerse Neil’s Last Words

Neil’s Last Words
There is more about the man
I would like to say
He was a little bit wily
…As in coyote
A little bit hermit
A little bit monk
A little bit seer
A little bit unknown

There in the courtyard
Is the garden he designed
We worked together
To get it done
I think he lingers there
At least his memory
He left his energy
On each rock he touched
And carefully placed

Perhaps he was a hero
Of the cowboy movie…
That played in his head
Enjoyed the fun..
A little bit
Charlie Chaplin
A little bit unknown

And I will tell you this
Days later…
I saw him on the road
As I often did before
He went away…
He turned
Over his shoulder
He smiled and winked
As if to say
Don’t worry about me
I’m OK
After all
It was all in fun
Quite a ride
Wait for me
Maybe I’ll be back
Someday

Note: This was written for dVerse Poetics: Leonard Cohen and Place.

February 12, 2013 dVerse

Lonely Man

This is a song

The Villagers would sing

About a lonely man

In his hometown

They whispered

His name

He fought his demons

On the darkest nights

Even fought them

In the broad daylight

Never won a round

Take a break

The bell would ring

They would go at it again

In his hometown

They Whispered

His name

Snortin’

Kickin’

Growling and such

A worthy opponent

He lived another

Day to fight again

But as the song goes

Each time the drink

Would win

Having said all this…

I am grateful

To have known him

Glad he came

On lonely days

Listen carefully

On the wind

Hear the sadness

As I whisper

His name…

Neil

Note: My friend, Neil, was a lonely man.

February 10, 2013 Sunday Whirl #95

Wordle #95

court, rare, open, bathe, plume, coral,

ball, term, bottle, incident, thread, dry

(Image from the internet)

Another Day Neil Went Away

There was another incident
Another day he went away
He searched for a place
Where he was not there
Unlike the final time…
There was always the possibility
He would return

I don’t remember the words spoken
Just that he went away…
The hour was late
The bare branches of the winter trees
Traced patterns of lace
Against the plume and coral sky

The court was empty
The jester gone
Packed his bottle
And his ball
Hit the open road
Took his struggle
Out of sight
As was only right

Between then and now
He would not know
A dry day
Unless in jail
Killed himself
In that slow way
People do
Who are
Addicted to the drink

It seemed
He could have bathed
His past away
But he did what he did
And could not have done
Otherwise

He served his term
On earth
A tortured soul
And yet the rare
Treasure he was
He could not see

He followed the thread
That was his own
Surrounded by love
He did not know
Or could not accept
A lonely man indeed

Spring will come
The weather will be warmer
At last
He’ll get his wish
He won’t be there

Note: Today I write again about my friend Neil. With sadness I am thinking of the other times he left. His was a sad story but not unique. There are some things that just can not be fixed. Today I will light a candle for him.

February 9, 2013 dVerse

Prompt:  Letting go

 

 

The snow has come as predicted

The sun shines too

All is white

Visibility low

 

You have brought up “letting go”

When you know

I am not good at it

I remember

When you left

All was lost

 

 

I would look down

See my hands

Knuckles white

Clenched

Holding on

Even when there was nothing left

 

I had to talk myself through

Open my hands

Turn them over

Nothing to hold on to

Letting go

 

So quickly the snow

Has stopped

Visibility still low

But is expected

Again and again

Like “letting go”

Again and again

 

 

February 9, 2013 Sunday Whirl

Wordle #95

court, rare, open, bathe, plume, coral,

ball, term, bottle, incident, thread, dry

(Image from the internet)

Another Day Neil Went Away

There was another incident
Another day he went away
He searched for a place
Where he was not there
Unlike the final time…
There was always the possibility
He would return

I don’t remember the words spoken
Just that he went away…
The hour was late
The bare branches of the winter trees
Traced patterns of lace
Against the plume and coral sky

The court was empty
The jester gone
Packed his bottle
And his ball
Hit the open road
Took his struggle
Out of sight
As was only right

Between then and now
He would not know
A dry day
Unless in jail
Killed himself
In that slow way
People do
Who are
Addicted to the drink

It seemed
He could have bathed
His past away
But he did what he did
And could not have done
Otherwise

He served his term
On earth
A tortured soul
And yet the rare
Treasure he was
He could not see

He followed the thread
That was his own
Surrounded by love
He did not know
Or could not accept
A lonely man indeed

Spring will come
The weather will be warmer
At last
He’ll get his wish
He won’t be there

Note: Today I write again about my friend Neil. With sadness I am thinking of the other times he left. His was a sad story but not unique. There are some things that just can not be fixed. Today I will light a candle for him.

February 7, 2013 dVerse One Day Neil Went Away

 

One Day Neil Went Away

 

Forewarned of his coming…

The speckled shoes

Gave him away

 

A flawed character

Indeed

Grew up

In a small Texas town

A flawed beginning

His sorrow

Always

With him

 

Loved color and paint

The smoke

The drink

…And Maggie

 

To see him on the road

Trudging to town

To buy the smokes

The drink

Eeyore came to mind

(Oh, where was Winnie the Pooh

When we needed him)

 

A giant of a man

Wise and wondrous

Dumb as a stump

Never disappointed

In his intellect

Inappropriate

More often than not

Good as could be

Worthless to a fault

 

Heart of gold

Full of love

Tears often

Filled his eyes…

For you…

For me…

For all that he could see

Lived life in deep

Valley of sadness

 

Tried to change

His fate

Without luck

One day Neil

Went away

 

Note: In loveing memory of my friend, Neil.  He went away on Saturday, and is not expected to return.  I have selected an image of Taos Mountain, Neil loved Taos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 3, 2013 Sunday Wordle #94 and dVerse

miserable, fuss, wish, go, again, interest

bust, figure, prove, straight, enough, sweet

February
The sands of time
Have slipped through
Without warning
I am not miserable
Nor will I make a fuss
Over the loss of January

I will remain in
This very moment
Tend my wishes
Like the gardener in spring
Wait for sweet results
Though I admit
I am so tired of winter
I could bust
With its pristine white
Blanket covering the road
Now spun frosting
Of brown sugar

The snow melts
Runs down hill in rivulets
Straight into the arroyo
Usually as dry as bleached bones
Where thirsty sage waits

Ravens circle above the arroyo
Call to each other
Like children in the play yard
Circle
Push and shove
Try to sit in the
Same exact spot on the coyote fence
Gossip about the neighbors
Tell the news
Nothing to prove

The sun shines
My shadow supports
The lone figure
On the mesa
It is enough

Note: The image I have selected is of objects on the windowsill in the studio, on a cold February day.  The weather report says, “Mostly sunny, cold.”

The prompt for dVerse was about shadows, I realized in the piece I wrote for Sunday Whirl I talk about the shadow in the last part, but I wanted to write something more.

Light and Shadows

Light and dark
Shadow side of the moon
The other side of the coin
Sunshine and shadow

Black and white
The valley of the shadow of death
Joy and sorrow
Night and day

Light and dark
If only we can remember
The brightest light
Is found in the darkest shadow

When we are in the shadow
The shadow is in us
And we will take it
Where ever we go

Light and dark
It is a part of us
One not better
Than the other